Undergraduate Conference in Medieval and Early Modern Studies

The Thirteenth Moravian College Undergraduate Conference in Medieval and Early Modern Studies will be held on Saturday December 1, 2018 on Moravian’s campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Students are encouraged to present or attend presentations and performances at the conference. 

The conference organizers welcome contributions from all departments in explorations of connections to the period between approx. 500 C.E. and 1800 C.E. Past conferences have featured papers, panels, and poster presentations that began as coursework, in addition to engaging performances in music, drama, and dance. The conference generally draws over 200 people and typically features presentations and performances by 80 to 100 students from 30 schools or so.

The typical presentation format consists of a 15-minute paper or a 45-minute group performance, but alternative formats are certainly considered. Both registration and submission of proposals will open October 1 and will be handled via the conference website. The deadline for the submission of proposals is November 3. For a look at past conferences, please visit our website.

Details for the plenary speaker and concert will be announced soon on the conference website. The day typically runs from about 9:00am-4:00pm, with performance and reception following. Registration and all activities (apart from lunch) are free for presenters and attendees.

Please look out for the Call for Papers and feel free to email questions to sandybardsley@moravian.edu.

London Experience Information Meeting at 3pm on Wednesday, Sept 6

The English Department has overhauled its Spring-semester London Experience, which now partners with Queen Mary, University of London, a high-ranking university with a lively campus in a hip part of London and the most diverse student body in the country.

Student take two courses with Villanova professor Dr. Lauren Shohet: "Writing/Literature" (which can count either as a Core Literature and Writing Seminar or as an elective) and "Shakespeare in London: From the Globe to Virtual Reality," which will include trips to see performances at theaters throughout the city. In addition, students take three courses at Queen Mary, choosing from a range of offerings in Film, History, Sociology, Art History, Politics, and International Relations. 

For more information, visit the department website here.

The program is open to Sophomores and Juniors. 

An information meeting about the program is being held on Wednesday, September 6 at 3.00pm in SAC 402. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet Harry Gibney, the International Student Exchange Program Manager at Queen Mary in London. Tea and scones will be served!

Part-Time Job Opportunity at Crimson Review

A part-time job opportunity as an administrative assistant is available with Crimson Review, a standardized test prep company based in Wayne, PA.

This is a flexible, part-time position (5-10 hours / week) involving basic office administrative tasks. Responsibilities will include exam grading, light data entry, and organizational tasks. It is not a difficult job. Hours are completely flexible except for 2-3 required hours on Sundays or Mondays. Most of the work will need to be done at the Crimson Review office adjacent to the Wayne train station.

Interested students should contact Craig Miller, Director of Operations, at ‭610-688-6441 or director@crimsonreview.com.

MightyFest 2018 - A Four-Day Literacy Festival for Philly Kids and Grown-Ups

Mighty Writers, a Philadelphia non-profit that teaches kids how to write in after-school and weekend workshops and programs, is presenting its first-ever festival to celebrate writing.  MightyFest2018 will take place September 27-30, 2018 in various venues in Philadelphia.  

There will be a keynote talk by Nikole Hannah-Jones, a New York Times writer who has a book coming out on school segregation, a soul dance party (with discounted tickets for students), and a Gospel breakfast featuring the Girard College Choir. Full details about the schedule are here:

Call for Submissions for Comparative Literature Undergraduate Journal

Comparative Literature Undergraduate Journal (CLUJ) at the University of California, Berkeley, has been showcasing the best undergraduate research in comparative literature and media from universities all over the world for seven years. The journal is currently accepting submissions for the Fall 2018 issue and would like to extend this call for papers to all interested undergraduates and recent graduates. It invites research papers from all those working in, around, or critically engaging with literary topics in a comparative nature. Papers in any language are welcome. Possible topics include but are not limited to:

• Papers comparing at least two authors or texts
• Interdisciplinary research engaging multiples disciplines within the humanities
• Research engaging with literary theory and schools of criticism

Authors whose papers are selected for publication will receive free copies of the issue in which they are published. For more information and full submission guidelines, or to view past issues of CLUJ, please visit our website’s submissions page.

Submissions for the Fall 2018 issue will be accepted until September 15th.

English Students at the Irish Theatre Summer Studio in Dublin

English and Theatre graduate students on the cliffs of Moher. Pictured (left to right) are: Angela Christaldi, Nickolette Jones, Alex Einspahr, Mary Lyon, Michelle Wrambel, and Ashley DiRienzo.

The picture below was taken on top of the Martello Tower, which appears in the opening of chapter of James Joyce's Ulysses. Pictured here are Alex Einspahr, MA student, and Caitlyn Dittmeier, graduating senior. They read the chapter on top of the Tower!

Below, Caitlyn Dittmeier, Lia Mrozinski, Ashley DiRienzo, Angela Christaldi, Alex Einspahr, Michelle Wrambel went to see the Abbey Theatre's stage version of Ulysses, written by Dermot Bolger.

Here are English and Theatre students on performance day at the Abbey Theatre! Pictured (clockwise from top left) are Alex Einspahr, Caitlyn Dittmeier, Ali Dennan, Mary Lyon, Seán Butler, Lia Mrozinski, Michelle Wrambel, Nickolette Jones, Angela Christaldi, One Helne, Megan O'Malley, Kristin Curley, and Ashley DiRienzo. 

Nora Manosca in Hong Kong

English major Nora Manosca is interning this summer in Hong Kong.  She writes:

As a Cultural Vistas Fellow, I am interning in Hong Kong SAR, China this summer as a Case Officer at Mission for Migrant Workers. The non-profit organization located in Central was founded in 1981 as a response to the large number of maltreatment and unfair labor practice cases Filipino migrant workers face. As a Case Officer, I work directly with migrant workers who have questions or cases regarding their worker's rights. The Mission commits to its Christian ideals of Justice, Charity, and Love which feels just like our Villanova home. On Sundays, many migrant workers are off from their domestic jobs and can be found socializing, resting, and eating on the sidewalks of Central. I had the opportunity of observing one of the Mission's programming events where staff members worked with other Filipino organizations to inform the domestic workers about their rights, offer free massages and blood pressure readings, and entertainment such as karaoke. The women workers are so full of life and fun, they don't even mind the heat and humidity!

Along with working with empowering people, Hong Kong has gifted me so many breathless sights, such as the view from the top of my dorm building at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, located at the top of a mountain (pic #1). The other Cultural Vistas Fellows and I went to the Dragon Boat Festival at Stanley Pier (Pic #2), where rowers from all over the world compete. We also visited the beautiful island of Macau, which is essentially a gigantic Las Vegas with a special black sand beach! (Pic #3) Adjusting to the weather is a small price to pay for such a memorable experience!

Nora in Macau.